Investigation on the carriage of Zika Virus, Dengue Virus and Rabies Virus in bats in Guangdong Province

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Zika virus, Dengue virus and Rabies virus in bats in Guangdong Province.Methods The Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR), Nested polymerase chain reaction(Nested PCR), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and cell culture were used to detect the three viruses in serum and brain tissue samples obtained from the bats from January 2014 to December 2016.Results There were 174 serums and brain tissues of the bats from two families and three species, including 33 Cynopterus sphinx belonging to Pteropodidae, 132 Scotophiluskuhlii and 9 Pipistrellusabramus belonging to Vespertilionidae. One brain sample was tested positive for dengue virus in Cynopterussphinx, the positive rate was 0.06% (1/174), while zika virus and rabies virus were not detected.Conclusion The three species of bats from Guangzhou are less likely to be the reservoir of zika virus, dengue virus and rabies virus.